There are many important differences between employees and independent contractors that businesses must consider before contracting to hire one or the other. Some of these differences include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Independent contractors are not subject to federal or state labor and employment laws like employees are; 2. The procedure for…
Continue reading ›The Mavrick Law Firm regularly represents entrepreneurs who open businesses in industries in which they were formerly employees. As such, often times we are confronted with covenants not to compete signed by the entrepreneur when he or she was employed with his or her former employer. The restrictive covenants will usually restrict the entrepreneur from…
Continue reading ›Florida statutes on non-competition covenants allow courts to modify overbroad non-competition covenants. For example, a non-competition covenant restricting an employee from competing against the employer in every county in Florida is likely overbroad if the employer conducts business only in Broward County. Florida statutes, however, allow the court to modify such overbroad non-competition covenants and…
Continue reading ›Florida law requires that courts read non-competition covenants in favor of providing reasonable protection to a company’s legitimate business interest and prohibits courts from reading the non-competition covenant narrowly against the restraint. Anarkali Boutique, Inc. v. Ortiz, 104 So. 3d 1202 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012) provides an example of just how broadly Florida courts could…
Continue reading ›Generally, under Florida statutory law, restrictive covenants, e.g., non-competition covenants, must be signed by the person against whom the covenant will be enforced. A restrictive covenant cannot be enforced against an individual who did not sign the restrictive covenant. In Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Dolgencorp, Inc., 964 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007), Winn-Dixie…
Continue reading ›Florida law tends to favor enforcement of non-competition covenants. Under Florida law, non-competition covenants are enforceable if they protect one or more legitimate business interests and if they are reasonable in time, area, and line of business. In fact, Florida law explicitly forbids courts from considering “any individualized economic or other hardship that might be…
Continue reading ›Under Florida law, non-competition covenants are generally enforceable if they protect one or more legitimate business interest. However, certain acts by the employer could defeat the enforceability of the non-competition covenant. Under contract law, a party’s material breach of a contract will render the entire contract unenforceable against the other party. In other words, if…
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